Postcard America
Curt Teich and the Imaging of a Nation, 1931-1950
Extensively illustrated with representative images, this unique book illuminates the cultural significance of the highly colorized “linen” postcards that depicted a glowing America in the 1930s and 1940s and that fascinate collectors today.
From the Great Depression through the early postwar years, any postcard sent in America was more than likely a “linen” card. Colorized in vivid, often exaggerated hues and printed on card stock embossed with a linen-like texture, linen postcards celebrated the American scene with views of majestic landscapes, modern cityscapes, roadside attractions, and other notable features. These colorful images portrayed the United States as shimmering with promise, quite unlike the black-and-white worlds of documentary photography or Life magazine. Linen postcards were enormously popular, with close to a billion printed and sold.
Postcard America offers the first comprehensive study of these cards and their cultural significance. Drawing on the production files of Curt Teich & Co. of Chicago, the originator of linen postcards, Jeffrey L. Meikle reveals how photographic views were transformed into colorized postcard images, often by means of manipulation—adding and deleting details or collaging bits and pieces from several photos. He presents two extensive portfolios of postcards—landscapes and cityscapes—that comprise a representative iconography of linen postcard views. For each image, Meikle explains the postcard’s subject, describes aspects of its production, and places it in social and cultural contexts. In the concluding chapter, he shifts from historical interpretation to a contemporary viewpoint, considering nostalgia as a motive for collectors and others who are fascinated today by these striking images.
In Postcard America, Jeffrey L. Meikle takes us on an incredible tour…[t]he book is breathtaking in its luxuriousness, a veritable treasure trove of American culture.
Postcard America is a seminal contribution to our understanding not only about the linen postcard but also about a graphic style that once visually captured and captivated America.
Postcard America is an exemplary work in the broad field of visual cultural studies and one that I recommend with great enthusiasm. Jeffrey Meikle’s commentaries on these postcards are a tour de force, the work of a mature scholar with the necessary mastery of diverse disciplines—technology, social history, business history, aesthetic history, and geography. Really extraordinary and fascinating to read.
A wonderfully presented, provocative, and attractive book. The author’s description of Curt Teich’s life and work, which includes a detailed account of both the artistic and the business end of his operation, is likely to be the last word on this key American image-maker for many years to come.
- Acknowledgments
- 1. "They Do Say It's Real": An Introduction to Linen Postcards
- 2. Curt Teich and the Early History of Postcards
- 3. The Linen Postcard: Innovation and Aesthetics
- 4. Landscapes in Linen Postcards: A National Imaginary
- Portfolio I: Landscapes
- Representative Vistas
- The Southwest: A Regional Aesthetic
- Travel and Tourism
- Scenic People
- Resources
- Infrastructure and Transportation
- 5. Cityscapes in Linen Postcards: Images of Modernity
- Portfolio II: Cityscapes
- Overviews
- Skyscrapers
- Main Streets
- Landmarks
- Recreation
- World's Fairs
- Accommodations
- 6. From a Rearview Mirror: Contemporary Reflections
- Notes
- Illustration Credits
- Index
